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Covid live news: Keir Starmer says Boris Johnson appears to have broken law over No 10 Christmas quiz Covid live news: Keir Starmer says Boris Johnson appears to have broken law over No 10 Christmas quiz
(32 minutes later)
Latest updates: UK prime minister seen at event that appears to be in breach of lockdown rules last year; minister defends PM insisting quiz was ‘virtual’Latest updates: UK prime minister seen at event that appears to be in breach of lockdown rules last year; minister defends PM insisting quiz was ‘virtual’
UK prime minister Boris Johnson is facing the most testing week of his troubled premiership as a mounting Tory rebellion over new Covid-19 restrictions threatens his authority in parliament and a supposedly safe Conservative seat appears on a knife-edge ahead of a byelection on Thursday, writes the Observer’s political editor Toby Helm.
Prof Hayward (see also 11:20) also said that the UK’s hospital system is already “on its knees” and faces a “big problem” ahead.
It was put to Prof Hayward that people may think ministers feel they have to put extra restrictions in place “based on modelling and theories”.
He told LBC:
Prof Andrew Hayward, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) from University College London, said Omicron is “much more infectious” than Delta and all previous Covid strains.
“Maybe somewhere between twice and possibly three times as infectious,” he told LBC. “What we can also see is that the vaccine, two doses of the vaccine, has relatively little impact on stopping that transmission.
“So putting those two together, and the fact that it’s already increasing, doubling every two or three days, what we can be pretty sure of is a very, very large wave of infections, bigger than the waves of infections that we’ve had before, so really the uncertainty is in how that’s going to translate into hospitalisations and deaths.”
Dr Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser for the UK Health Security Agency has said that the UK is facing an “inevitable” large wave of infections caused by Omicron, with more Covid measures likely to be needed (see also 10am).
Hopkins confirmed that the UK has seen its first Omicron hospitalisations in recent days and that she expects those numbers to rise.
She told BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show:
She added:
In the UK, Conservative voters share their doubts about the prime minister in pro-Brexit Thanet. James Tapper reports:In the UK, Conservative voters share their doubts about the prime minister in pro-Brexit Thanet. James Tapper reports:
Questioned about “mutinous MPs” and “disarray” in Downing Street at a G7 summit in Liverpool, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said:Questioned about “mutinous MPs” and “disarray” in Downing Street at a G7 summit in Liverpool, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said:
She added:She added:
ITV’s UK editor, Paul Brand, writes on Twitter:ITV’s UK editor, Paul Brand, writes on Twitter:
Prof Barry Schoub, a Covid-19 adviser to the South African government, has advised against the UK “trivialising” Omicron’s impact and said it should be treated as seriously as Delta.Prof Barry Schoub, a Covid-19 adviser to the South African government, has advised against the UK “trivialising” Omicron’s impact and said it should be treated as seriously as Delta.
He told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme: “I think we need to. I think we must avoid trivialising it. At this stage, we’re still gathering information.”He told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme: “I think we need to. I think we must avoid trivialising it. At this stage, we’re still gathering information.”
He added: “So at the moment, we do need to treat it as seriously as Delta, with all the kind of precautions that we took for Delta. We can’t let up on that at the moment.”He added: “So at the moment, we do need to treat it as seriously as Delta, with all the kind of precautions that we took for Delta. We can’t let up on that at the moment.”
Nadhim Zahawi, the UK education secretary, also told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that “99%” of schools are open and that nativities should continue to take place.Nadhim Zahawi, the UK education secretary, also told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that “99%” of schools are open and that nativities should continue to take place.
When asked whether he could guarantee that schools would be open in January, he said: “I will do everything in my power”.When asked whether he could guarantee that schools would be open in January, he said: “I will do everything in my power”.
Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, has insisted the government is not introducing a “vaccine passport”.Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, has insisted the government is not introducing a “vaccine passport”.
He told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show:He told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show:
Asked whether people are coming forward in sufficient numbers for booster vaccines, he said:Asked whether people are coming forward in sufficient numbers for booster vaccines, he said:
Nadhim Zahawi, the UK education secretary and former vaccines minister, has again defended the prime minister’s alleged Christmas quiz (see also 8:58), saying there’s no rule against “recognising Christmas with tinsel or a hat”.Nadhim Zahawi, the UK education secretary and former vaccines minister, has again defended the prime minister’s alleged Christmas quiz (see also 8:58), saying there’s no rule against “recognising Christmas with tinsel or a hat”.
He told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that his inbox is full of people thinking Boris Johnson is having parties with guests, but that now the public can “make their mind up when they see this picture of the prime minister on a virtual screen, on a Zoom, thanking his team who are in the building because they have to respond to a national emergency.”He told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that his inbox is full of people thinking Boris Johnson is having parties with guests, but that now the public can “make their mind up when they see this picture of the prime minister on a virtual screen, on a Zoom, thanking his team who are in the building because they have to respond to a national emergency.”
He said they were colleagues, there was no drink and that there is no rule against “recognising Christmas with tinsel or a hat”.He said they were colleagues, there was no drink and that there is no rule against “recognising Christmas with tinsel or a hat”.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for the UK Health Security Agency, has warned that “very difficult” decisions lie ahead for the government and that more Covid measures may be needed.
She told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show:
She added:
Restrictions that might have to come, she said, include reducing social contacts and reducing activities in social environments.
“People have their own decisions to make about their Christmas parties,” she added.
Starmer also pledged that there were no Labour Christmas parties last year. “We were following the rules,” he told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show.
Labour leader Keir Starmer claims UK prime minister Boris Johnson is “unfit for office” and has breached public trust.
He told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that that the prime minister’s alleged actions have “broken” trust which will result in many people deciding to stop follow coronavirus rules.
He said:
“He [Johnson] is a threat to public health...The critical question is ‘will the public follow the rules?’. And they have been following the rules, but now that trust is broken and many people are now saying ‘Well, if the prime minister is going to allow breaking of the rules, parties, quizzes going on in downing street when we’re being asked not to see our loved ones, well why should i follow the rules?’”
He added:
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said that UK prime minister Boris Johnson appeared to have broken the law with an alleged Christmas quiz and that he must have known there were other groups taking part in other rooms.
Asked on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show whether he was breaking the rules, Starmer said:
He added: “He’s the worst possible leader at the worst possible time.”
He declined to call on the prime minister to resign, but said: “We need to look at the allegation... but it is very very serious for the prime minister.” He added: “Trust in the prime minister is at an all time low.”
He said the new allegation is “very serious” because at the time the prime minister was asking people not to see their loved ones, which is why it’s created “such fury”.
He said it was “only Wednesday” that Boris Johnson “stood up in parliament and said he was furious that he’d just found out that there may have been breaches of the rules in Downing Street...now we learn this morning that three days earlier he was involved, he was leading a quiz in Downing Street which, if the reports are accurate, involved groups of people...involving themselves in a social event.
“And so he’ll be doubly serious now he finds out that he himself has been involved in something which may have breached the rules.”
Labour party leader Keir Starmer says his party will not be joining a threatened Conservative rebellion in Tuesday’s vote on Covid restrictions.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “We’re not going to be tempted into playing party politics here”.
In the UK, Alison Phillips, editor of the Daily Mirror, which broke the Christmas quiz story, tells the BBC’s Andrew Marr show that their source told them that nobody was working at the quiz, “it was purely a social event”.
Phillips says it was “a Christmas quiz outside of the rules” and a part of a “culture of rulebreaking”.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Dehenna Davison says her inbox has been “flooded” with people concerned about vaccine passports.
More from the UK:
On BBC, Andrew Marr opens his show to say that in 40 years of covering politics he does not remember newspapers being “this hostile” to a prime minister.
Nadhim Zahawi, the UK education secretary and former vaccines minister, has defended allegations against Boris Johnson that he breached Covid rules to hold a Christmas quiz last year - insisting it was “virtual” and dismissing criticism about parties as “hype”.
Zahawi told Trevor Phillips on Sunday on Sky News that the picture shows a “prime minister on a virtual quiz night for 10-15 minutes to thank his staff” who he said had no choice but to come into work.
He said they the prime minister was “respecting the lockdown rules” and that the other people pictured in the quiz were in his office people who “work with him”.
“I think the nation will understand that [that it was virtual],” he said.
He said the investigation into Downing Street parties will investigate all allegations at that it will move “rapidly”.
Defending Johnson, he said he “works literally all works to make sure we get through this pandemic” and Zahawi said he is “confident” that the Conservatives will will win Thursday’s by-election in North Shropshire.
Nadhim Zahawi, the UK education secretary and former vaccines minister, has said that there are Omicron cases in hospital as he warned that the country is now in a “race” between the booster and the new variant.
Speaking on Sky News, he said the UK has “seen this movie before” with previous variants and warned that “very quickly” Omicron will be the UK’s dominant variant, with a third of infections in London are now Omicron.
Even if Omicron is less severe than previous variants, he said it is “highly infectious” and that if the UK gets to one million cases by the end of the month, three days later it will be two million.
He said it is going to be a “national endeavour” to get British people vaccinated with the third jab. “It’s now a race between the booster and that protection and the omicron variant,” he said.
The British prime minister is under further pressure today over Downing Street’s alleged Christmas celebrations after he was accused of breaking Covid laws by hosting a festive quiz last year.
Boris Johnson was pictured sitting underneath a portrait of Margaret Thatcher as he read out questions in No 10 on 15 December - when London was under tier 2 restrictions, and three days before an alleged Downing Street Christmas party under investigation - the Mirror reports.
The newspaper reports that many staff gathered around computers, discussed questions and drank alcohol from Tesco Metro, and that in one office there were four teams, each formed of six people.
Dozens of staff reportedly signed up to take part in the quiz online but at 6.30pm many decided to instead join from No 10.
At the time people in London were banned from any social mixing between households, while official guidance said: “You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.”
In response to the latest allegations, a No 10 spokesperson said: “This was a virtual quiz. Downing Street staff were often required to be in the office to work on the pandemic response so those who were in the office for work may have attended virtually from their desks.
“The prime minister briefly took part virtually in a quiz to thank staff for their hard work throughout the year.”
I’ll be looking after the blog for the next few hours covering the latest UK and global Covid news. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk